Straight Path Ventures today filed an application and supporting exhibits for an experimental license to support the development of “radios that can support 5G fixed and mobile services in the 39 GHz band (38.4 – 40.0 GHz).” Straight Path Ventures is affiliated with Straight Path Spectrum, which recently agreed to pay a $100 million civil penalty in a consent decree with the FCC. Straight Path announced a demo of 39 GHz technology last October.
Development goals include “large bandwidth (up to 1 GHz), high speed (multi-Gbps), and long range (up to 10 km),” not necessarily simultaneously.
One configuration (hybrid beamforming configuration) is a phased antenna array with multiple transceiver chains. This configuration will allow dynamic steering of high gain beams across the coverage area of a 5G Base Station. This configuration is intended for fixed and mobile 5G Base Station. The maximum achievable EIRP of these devices is around 57 dBm while it will typically be operating at 40 ~ 50 dBm range.
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Another configuration (digital beamforming configuration) is a planar antenna array with multiple transceiver chains, with beamforming across transceiver chains achieved by digital processing. This configuration is intended for the Hub Station in fixed 5G deployment. We target 36 – 51 dBm EIRP with this configuration. The coverage of each sector is around 90 degree (azimuth).
Yet another configuration (fixed beam configuration) is a dish antenna with one or multiple transceiver chains. The dish antenna is around 6 – 12 inches in diameter. This configuration is intended for Consumer Premise Equipment (CPE) in fixed 5G deployment. We target 48 dBm EIRP for the CPE.
One of the exhibits goes into more detail about the directional antennas.
All equipment is intended for frequencies authorized for operation by Straight Path Spectrum. Development under the experimental license is to take place in Plano, Texas. The estimated length of time for operation under the license is 24 months.